Saltkin
by Nautical Paramour
Summary: Hermione tries to use the Resurrection Stone to bring back her dead parents, only to have someone else's soul latch onto her body. Working closely with Severus to exorcise the other bit of soul, will feelings develop between them? Severus/Hermione. COMPLETE! Valentine's day special! Daily updates through Valentine's Day - 1k chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright y'all. This is a special story for Valentine's Day. I will be posting one 1k word chapter a day through the 14th. I did a similar story last year with Marcus, called Lovefool, so go check that out if you want. Now, because updates are daily, I dunno if I will be able to answer all of my reviews, but please know that I read and cherish each and every one!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter one and be on the lookout for chapter two tomorrow!

* * *

Harry had thought that he'd gotten rid of the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest during the war, but Hermione knew better. He'd thought that it would just be a forgotten rock hidden beneath fallen leaves and no one would ever be the wiser about it's existence. After all, the Hallows were just a fairy tale weren't they?

He didn't count on his very best friend and her resourcefulness. He didn't count on how much it would hurt Hermione to lose her parents.

It had taken Hermione all summer to find her parents in Australia, wondering why it was so difficult to find them. She'd sent them to Australia to be kept safe, but it hadn't changed anything. It had been less than a year in the sunny country before Monica and Wendell Wilkins had been killed by a drunk driver. Hermione did have a little bit of comfort to know that it was at least quick. If the Death Eaters had gotten their hands on her parents, she knew they would have tortured them mercilessly for hours.

But, talking with Harry about the Deathly Hallows made her realize that she might have a chance at getting them back. She knew the story, and she knew the risks, but she had to at least try to get give her parents a second chance at life.

It hadn't taken her much research to figure out how to summon the Resurrection Stone. The artifact wouldn't respond to traditional summoning charms, but once she found something that specifically targeted it's magical energy, it was easy to find something that would bring the stone to her.

By the time she went of to Hogwarts in the fall to complete her NEWTs, she was immediately itching to get out into the Forest and search for it, so that she could complete the ritual. However, she'd talked Harry and Ron into joining her at school for the so called eighth year, and they had been dominating every minute of her free time. She just couldn't seem to shake them.

Hermione didn't think she'd ever been so excited for Quidditch to resume. Telling the boys that they didn't need her there at tryouts, she made as if she was going to go to the library before slipping out, using a disillusionment charm to make her way to the forest's edge undetected.

It was easy for her to find the clearing that Harry had left the stone in with a directional charm on her wand. Following the way that her wand pointed, Hermione walked about twenty minutes through the crunching leaves until she came to the opening in the trees. The wind was silent here, and it almost felt as if there was a damper on the area. She wondered if in the past this place had been used for ritual magic.

Deciding it was a good omen, a sign that the Forest was cooperating with her, Hermione took a deep breath before summoning the stone. Some rustling leaves were the only indication of any movement, before the geometric black stone flew into her waiting hand.

Hermione frowned, looking at the stone in her hand. She was a bit disappointed in Harry that he thought anyone could find _this_ and not be intrigued by it. Such a perfectly carved and polished stone was sure to catch the eye of anyone who stumbled upon it. Excited that she could finally put her months of research into action Hermione lovingly stroked the stone with her thumb.

She gasped, feeling a little zing in her finger, and wondered if that was perhaps a warning that she should drop to stone and return to school. But then, she thought of her poor parents and how their lives had been cut so short, and that it was all her fault. She'd sacrificed _so_ much during the war, she was going to get this one little bit back. It was worth the risk.

Closing her eyes tightly, Hermione thought of both her parents in her mind's eye. Her mother, who was so similar to Hermione in physical stature and looks, except for her long, straight hair. Her father, a tall man, with Hermione's curly brown hair and a mustache. She felt her eyes fill with tears and reminded herself that they would be back soon enough.

Turning the stone three times in her hand, there was an immediate reaction from the Forest. The wind seemed to pick up, sending leaves flying all around her in a circle, making her heart beat faster. The rattling had begun to sound like bones, and it sent a chill down Hermione's spine.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes and looked around. "Mum? Dad?" She called out, her voice shaking, while she spun in a circle. The clearing was, disappointingly empty.

Determined, and unwilling to give up, Hermione repeated the process. Full of intent and longing, Hermione turned the stone in her hand three more times, the promise of her parents filling her heart with promise. Again, the wind picked up in a visceral reaction to the magic that was in the clearing.

She spun around quickly again, feeling immense sadness welling up in her heart. There was still no sign of her poor parents, and it seemed for one of the only times in her life, magic had failed her. She wondered why it hadn't worked for her, when the answer was so obvious to her. She wanted to jump up and down and stop her feet like a child.

Clearly the Resurrection Stone didn't work on muggles, she thought, hating how unfair that was. Tears poured down her pale cheeks, and Hermione quickly wiped them away, hating how hopeless she felt. She'd been so focused on this little secret project all summer, she never once considered the possibility that she might fail at it. She'd been so confident that she hadn't thought to prepare for any other outcome. Hermione felt as if this was the biggest failure of her young life.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter two, and be on the lookout for chapter three tomorrow!

* * *

Lily Evans often wondered how she'd ended up here in this limbo between worlds. For a long time, she figured that it was caused by the Killing Curse, her soul too destroyed to move on. But, as the years went on and she saw what fate had in store for her son, she knew her purpose was to help him, in any way that he needed.

She'd been so proud to see him and the brave man he'd grown into over the years, despite so much adversity. Lily had played her part and encouraged Harry to die for the cause, if only to kill the bit of soul of Voldemort that had latched itself onto her baby. It had hurt to do, but she knew that it would help him, so she'd done it anyway.

There had been much rejoicing when she learned that Harry was going to get a second chance at life. Or was it a third?

But, that got Lily thinking. She'd been so good while she'd been alive, constantly fighting against prejudice against muggleborns and maintaining good grades. She'd always tried to be a good sister to Petunia, even if the other girl hated her. She'd been a wonderful friend to so many different people. She'd fought with the Order of the Phoenix. She'd been a wonderful wife and mother. She'd given her life for her son.

So, where was her second chance at life?

In the years since she'd died, she'd grown a bit bitter. Yes, she loved James very much when they were young, but after so many years with only him for company, she'd gone a bit stir crazy. Then, Sirius had joined them and Lily thought she was actually going spare. Sure, pranks and jokes were funny for a while, but not year after year after year. It had grown to be irritating.

When Remus joined them, Lily had thought that he might be able to balance out her husband and his best friend, but it seemed that Remus was enjoying a new lease on life and wanted to have the childish fun that James and Sirius had. Remus's wife left much to be desired.

A few months of the torment - and reminder that she'd never _really_ fit in with the marauders - and not even one hint that she was going to move on from this limbo had Lily feeling antsy.

She wanted a second chance at life, a second chance at love, and she was determined to get it. She'd often thought about how cruel it was of her to not forgive Severus, her oldest friend, for making a mistake and lashing out at her. She hadn't even listened to his apology, being the self-righteous teenager that she was. To learn that he'd held onto her memory over so many years had her own heart soaring. The only thing that she needed was a body.

But she was now tied to this stupid Resurrection Stone, which Harry had _nobly_ left in the middle of nowhere. Not exactly prime real estate for body snatching.

It seemed as if opportunity just waltzed right into her clearing one day. She recognized the girl as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends. Lily had always had a soft spot for the girl, recognizing many similarities between the two of them. They were both brilliant muggleborns. Only, Lily had always taken a bit more care with her appearance than Hermione ever seemed to.

To her absolute glee, Hermione summoned the stone with a brilliant bit of spell work that had Lily mentally congratulating the girl. Oh, that Hermione was _always_ so resourceful. Lily even felt a little bad for the girl when she turned the stone in her hand and then desperately searched for someone. She felt her heart ache when the girl called for her mum and dad.

But, Lily couldn't feel bad about her intentions with the young muggleborn. She would make an excellent body for Lily to take over, as she was sure that they had similar magical abilities, and it would feel like coming home. Or, she hoped at least. Lily had never possessed anyone before.

The girl turned the stone in her hand again, and Lily knew that she had to act quickly, before Hermione dropped the stone back to the ground. Walking over to the girl, she was sure that Hermione couldn't see the shade that she was.

She heard James calling after her, confused about what she was doing, and Lily was _almost_ surprised enough to stop. The idea that he was actually paying attention to her for once was heady...but, then she reminded herself. She loved James, but James wasn't the love of her life. She would have a second chance.

Shaking her head and taking a deep breath of determination - a reflex from her mortal days, not that she actually had breath to take - she forced her soul into the brunette's body.

Immediately, Lily was hit by a rush of emotions - sadness, despair, failure, disappointment. Briefly she wondered how it was that one girl could feel _so much_ , but then she remembered that Hermione was still a teenage girl. It was to be expected.

The girl's body wasn't used to the second soul, and immediately her magical core rose up and began battling to push Lily out. Lily pushed back with all of her might, knowing that Hermione was key, that she was going to possess her body, if it was the last thing she did. It was fate that brought Lily and Hermione together and she knew that she had to do this if she was ever going to get her second chance.

Soon, the force of magic became too much, and Lily could feel Hermione's vision going dark. The girl swayed on her feet, trying to take a steadying step, only to sway backwards and forwards. Her eyes fluttered shut, unable to gain control of her mind, and Hermione dropped straight back to the soft bed of leaves in the clearing.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter three and be on the lookout for chapter four tomorrow!

* * *

Severus Snape had been disappointed to learn that he had survived the war. It seemed as if Potter's do-gooder attitude knew no bounds, and he'd sent healers to the Shrieking Shack to help save him. Oh, and Potter had shoved a bezoar down his throat.

It boggled his mind that the boy-who-lived-twice didn't realize that Severus was tired of fighting for so many years of his life, being hated and misunderstood. That never being fully trusted for two decades weighed heavily on his heart, and that Severus had been ready to die. He'd been ready for all of his sacrifices to pay off and to have a wonderful afterlife, if such a thing existed, or in the more likely case, blissful nothingness.

Minerva had fallen over herself to apologize to him, and promise him that he'd always have a home at Hogwarts. Severus couldn't roll his eyes hard enough at that idea, but he was willing to take her up on her offer, if only to keep himself out of Azkaban when he inevitably snapped and cursed one of his new "fans".

He'd insisted that he wanted his old post...as potions master, back. Bill Weasley had been offered the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and after all his time being a death eater, Severus was ready to let dark magic rest. He was much happier in his quiet, empty dungeons, where he could work in peace without being distracted by students. He'd insisted that he not be made deputy Headmaster. He'd never wanted to be Headmaster, and he was self-reflective enough to know that he wasn't suited to the position anyone.

No, instead, it was better to be down here, below, alone.

It did sting a little bit to know that he was destined to a life of loneliness, but when he was cataloging his stores, the beetles eyes, newt wings, and lacewing flies could be all the company he needed. Or at least, that's what he told himself, constantly.

A knock on the door startled him, but he was surprised to see Hermione Granger peek her head in the room. "What is it Miss Granger? You've made me lose my count." He snarled at her. Just because he was no longer beholden to two masters didn't mean he was suddenly about to become _nice_.

Miss Granger gave him a smile that most decidedly did not fit her face. It was coy, and teasing and seemed to indicate that they shared some sort of secret. "Now, Sev, is that really the way to talk to an old friend?" She asked, before flouncing over to his desk, and hopping up to sit on the edge.

Completely taken aback, Severus pulled back from his ledger to look at the girl, a murderous look in his eye. Her exposed thigh was the first indication that something was not right. A sliver of toned leg was visible just below her barely shorter than regulation skirt and grey knee socks. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that it pained Miss Granger to break the rules.

Looking further up her body, her school shirt had one extra button undone, revealing the barest hint of her upper breasts, just enough to tantalize and promise the secrets that were hidden beneath regulation white cotton.

Closing his eyes tightly, Severus scolded himself. He was not supposed to be looking at a student this way, least of all Miss Know-It-All Granger. He'd been a professor for over half of his life and he'd never _once_ behaved in a untoward way to a student.

Determined, he looked in her eyes, and noticed that her normally curly hair had been straightened, pin straight and shiny. "Do not ever presume that we are friends, Miss Granger." He snarked at her, wanting the invading girl to get out of his domain.

"Come on, Sev, don't you recognize me?" She asked, swinging her legs. "I know my hair isn't the right color, but I thought with it straightened…" Miss Granger trailed off, picking up a lock between her fingers and frowning at the light brown color. "Maybe I should have made it red."

Severus found the idea abhorrent. "Do not change your hair red, Miss Granger. And I don't know what you are playing at, but you need to leave now." He said, before smirking to himself. Oh, how he'd missed giving the mouthy girl detention...she always did clean his cauldrons immaculately. "But, you can rejoin me for detention tomorrow, after dinner." He said sternly.

When he looked back at the girl, she was taking in a deep breath and blinking rapidly. She looked confused about where she was, and what she was doing. Rightly so, Severus thought. Perhaps she'd realized that she'd embarrassed herself, once the proper punishment was given. Standing, she looked at him in unmasked horror. "De-detention, yes sir. Tomorrow." She said, solemnly, before backing away towards the door.

Severus was surprised by the seemingly drastic change in her demeanor. Gone was the coquettish look and behavior. Instead, she looked a bit unsteady on her feet as she walked out the door of the potions classroom.

Feeling a bit badly, he followed her for a few steps, watching her as she went. Sure, he might be a miserable bastard, but he wasn't cruel for just the sake of being cruel. If something was not right with Miss Granger, well…

She took a few steps outside of the classroom before she stopped and swayed on her feet. Grabbing at the sides of her head with both hands, she seemed to be in immense pain. Just as he was about to call out to her, to see if something was wrong, she collapsed in a heap on the cold stone floor.

Pacing over to her side, Severus noted that she was unconscious. The witch had just fainted. "Salazar's staff." He whispered under his breath, before shooting off his patronus to Madame Pomfrey to let her know she'd have a patient in the hospital wing.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like to.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter four and be on the lookout for chapter five tomorrow!

* * *

Hermione opened her bleary eyes and blinked a few times, before realizing that she was in the hospital wing. Sitting up slightly, she groaned at the pounding pain in her head. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she'd been having more and more headaches, ever since September. In her heart, she was worried that she might have disturbed her magic when she tried to use the Resurrection Stone.

Looking around, she noticed the messy hair of her best friend, Harry Potter. "Harry, what happened?" She asked, startling him from his Quidditch magazine.

"Hey, Hermione, how are you feeling?" He asked softly, perhaps realizing that her head was going to be in pain.

"I've had better days, but I would really like to know what I am doing here." She said, hoping that he'd be able to fill in some gaps.

"Madame Pomfrey said you hit your head pretty hard. She said you might have some memory loss." Harry ran his hand through his hair. "You were in the dungeons, and you collapsed. Professor Snape said you'd been acting oddly, and that you were decidedly unsteady." Harry said, his eyebrows furrowed in obvious confusion about what she was doing with Snape. Her friend felt a small sense of admiration for the stoic teacher, but he'd been rebuffed one too many times to try and speak with him outside of class.

All the memories came pouring back to Hermione's head...well, not all of the memories. She still didn't know what she had been doing in Professor Snape's office, just that he'd given her a detention, and well, she wasn't entirely sure of why. "He gave me detention." She said quietly.

Harry gave her a crooked half-smile. "Come on, Hermione, you know that detentions don't really matter to us at this point, right?"

"No, I am not worried about the detention." She dissolved into giggles. "Oh, I am glad Ron wasn't there to hear me say that." Her and Ron had a comfortable friendship after the battle. They'd finally kissed, only to realize that it felt more like kissing a brother. Once their unresolved sexual tension had dissipated, their relationship had mellowed out. "Where is he anyway?"

"He just ran down to get dinner." Harry said. "You know him, he can't miss a meal."

Hermione knew that was true, but she was kind of glad that Ron wouldn't be there for this part of their conversation. She knew that he would fly off of the handle if she told him what she'd done. "I am not worried about the detention, it's just...I'm not sure _why_ I got it." She told Harry quietly, looking at her lap.

"Hermione, don't be so hard on yourself." Harry chided her. "You heard me say that you might have some memory loss. And don't worry, I am sure that Snape would tell you if you asked him."

She nodded, before biting her lip. If she wanted, she could let this whole conversation drop and Harry would never be the wiser about what had happened. No, Hermione thought. This had gone on long enough and who knew how long it would be until she seriously injured herself? "It's not that." Her voice was barely loud enough for Harry to pick up on. "I've been having these...blackouts, I suppose you could call them. Periods of time where I just don't remember what happened?"

Harry immediately looked alarmed, coming to sit on the edge of her bed. "Blackouts? When did this start Hermione? Do you think it has something to do with what happened...at Malfoy Manor?" He gave her arm a little squeeze of assurance.

Shaking her head no, Hermione forced herself to look into Harry's emerald green eyes. "Do you remember Quidditcht tryouts? I said I was going to the library? Well, I really went in the Forbidden Forest." Hermione felt ashamed, not only for lying to her friends, but also because she knew that Harry had thought he'd hidden the stone. "I was looking for the Resurrection Stone."

Her friend was definitely surprised to hear her say that. "Why would you do that, Hermione? You know the fable...and you know what I told you. They are just shades, trying to get you to kill yourself."

She felt her eyes welling up in tears. "I had to at least _try_ to bring back my parents, Harry." She knew that she should have let him in more about the grief she was feeling about her parents previously, but she'd been too scared to open up. "I tried, but...it didn't work. I don't think that the Stone works on muggles."

Harry gave her a look of empathy, before wrapping his arms around her. Pressed against his strong chest, it was easy for Hermione to dissolve into sobs. It was clear that she was still mourning her parents. He pulled away once she'd petered out. "Is that when the blackouts started?"

"Yes. At first it was only for a few minutes here or there, but now it's getting to be more frequent and longer stretches. I have no idea what I do during those periods." Hermione admitted, feeling terrified that she wasn't in control of her body. "Like today, look! I've straightened my hair. I don't even know why or how I would have done that."

"I was wondering that." Harry said, picking up a lock of her hair between his fingers, smiling at her. He knew that Hermione was never particularly bothered by her hair with a life of it's own. "Don't worry, Hermione. We will help you figure it out."

"But, how? I've looked everywhere in the library, and I was barely able to find anything about the hallows, let alone what they've done to people physically." Hermione complained. She hated that the library wasn't able to give her the answers she needed.

"Why don't we start keeping track of the blackouts?" Harry suggested. "Perhaps there is some kind of a pattern. And, if we can't figure it out, we can ask Bill. He's a curse breaker after all."

Harry's support and ideas did make Hermione feel a little bit better. Hopefully she hadn't dramatically messed up her own magical core.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can also follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter five and be on the lookout for chapter six tomorrow!

* * *

Lily had bided her time inside of Hermione's body, waiting for another moment to strike. She'd been hurt that Severus hadn't been receptive to her advances, when he was supposed to still be in love with her. Here she'd thought that Severus was supposed to be her second chance of love, but it didn't seem like he was open to love with anybody.

Sure, it was true that Hermione didn't _look_ like Lily, but she was still pretty. She obviously took good care of her body, from what Lily could tell, and straight hair certainly helped with the look. If only some of her clothes were a little bit more sexy. Lily always thought that Severus loved her for her mind and personality, and of course her looks _helped._ So what difference would it make if she had someone else's body if it was still her inside of it?

Perhaps Severus was more shallow than she thought.

Or, perhaps, she hadn't done a good enough job of explaining to him who she was. She'd used the nickname that no one else except she was allowed to use. Certainly it would have tipped him off to who she was? Or had he already forgotten?

Opportunity came again in a surprising place. Hermione had earned herself detention with Severus, though Lily couldn't think of why he'd actually given it to her. Hermione hadn't done anything wrong. He'd asked her to scrub all the pewter cauldrons out...apparently the fourth years had made quite a mess last class. He'd informed her that he would be grading essays at the desk at the front of the room. "Because I can't trust you not to faint again in my presence, I will wait here to ensure you don't injure yourself, Miss Granger." He'd scolded.

Lily had giggled, thinking of how salacious that sounded. She wondered if Severus knew it sounded like Hermione was swooning over him. Precious Hermione's cheeks had turned bright red, but she'd agreed, and got to work cleaning.

That was Lily's chance to strike. Pushing Hermione out of control of her own body, Lily took over. Poor Hermione, she was a lovely girl, but Lily just really wanted another chance at life, and it seemed as if the brunette was her ticket. Lily continued to scrub the cauldrons in silence, before taking a moment to look at Severus.

There were definitely still hints of the teenager he'd been the last time she'd spoken to him. He was tall, but no longer painfully thin, but still quite lanky. He'd grown into his nose, which had always been a bit overly large growing up, but it'd appeared as though it had been broken a few times. Now that the war was over, he didn't carry so much tension in his face, making him seem comparatively carefree, though she was certain that others who didn't know him as well would never notice.

His long fingers wrapped around a quill had Lily biting her lip, and squeezing her legs together. Of course she'd had a bit of a crush on Severus growing up, but he was easily eclipsed by the boyish charm of James Potter. But now Severus was _all_ man, and it had Lily feeling rather...responsive. Ghosts don't have sex, which both she and James had been disappointed to learn in those early years. But, she'd learned to live with, focusing her time on Harry. But now she'd been thrust into Hermione's hormonal body again, and she was suddenly randy all the time.

Setting down the scrub, Lily decided that it was time to make her move. She wasn't about to waste this opportunity cleaning cauldrons. Wishing that she'd had a bit more time, to straighten her hair again, maybe try a coloring charm, and fix Hermione's clothes, Lily walked forward purposefully.

Undoing the top button on her shirt, she leaned forward over the desk Severus was sitting at. "Sev, I think we got off on the wrong foot last time." She said, giving him a winning smile.

When he looked up at her, his face was distorted in concern and confusion. "Miss Granger, what are you playing at?" He demanded, snarling and lashing out at her.

Lily was almost frightened by his response. Almost. But she remembered how surly Sev could get when they were teens. "Don't you recognize me? It's me, Lily Evans." She implored, hoping that he would figure it out. "Well, I mean, of course it's not my body, but I had to take over _someone_."

He looked a bit hurt. "That is a cruel game, Miss Granger. I would really expect more of you, but I wouldnt be surprised if Potter and Weasley put you up to this trick."

"It's not a trick, Sev." Lily said, stamping down on her foot. "Go on, then, ask me something only I would know. Something that you didn't include in the memories you gave Harry." She prompted, _needing_ him to believe it was her. How were they going to get their happily ever after if he didn't give her a chance?

He was silent for a minute, and Lily almost thought that he wasn't going to play along. "What did we do when we took the train to Manchester?" He asked, studying Lily's face carefully.

Lily gave him a bright smile. "Let's see. We split a coke on the train ride over. Then we went to a football match because my father had won tickets, but couldn't go. We saw Bury, not one of the Manchester teams. After, we got fish and chips at a pub not far from the river, and then we took the train home." Lily always remembered that day. It was one of her last happy memories involving Sev.

Severus stared at her in confusion, before a look of awe came over his face. Lily immediately knew that he was finally figuring out that it really was her. Clapping her hands together in joy, Lily just knew she was going to get her second chance.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you all for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can also follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter six and be on the lookout for chapter seven tomorrow!

* * *

Severus paced back and forth in front of Headmistress Minerva McGonagall's desk, while a patient Hermione - or should he call her Lily? - sat in the chair demurely, legs crossed at the ankles. It was odd to see some of the behaviors and ticks of his old friend in the normally prim and proper Hermione Granger.

He was a bit at a loss of how to act around her. While it was an unusual circumstance, and he was happy to be able to talk to Lily again, he couldn't deny that she was in Miss Granger's body, and acting quite out of character for the know-it-all witch. She'd been behaving...decidedly sexy, and he was ashamed to say that his body was reacting in such a way to a student. He knew that it was simply biological, and that Miss Granger was a mature young woman, it still made him feel like a creepy old man.

Lily had talked of second chances, of a chance for them to be together, and Severus didn't know what to think. He'd spent years pining after his redheaded best friend as a teenager, and he'd grown to love her. But then, he'd been chasing a memory for so long, he wasn't entirely sure that Lily could live up to her own memory.

They had _both_ wronged each other. Of course, he'd once called her an utterly revolting name, but she'd been cruel to not even allow him to opportunity to apologize. It was a wound that he'd never quite allowed to heal properly. Then, he'd betrayed her by giving the prophecy to Voldemort. He hadn't known it was her or her child at the time, but it didn't absolve him of their deaths. But then, he'd devoted his life to Harry bloody Potter. Surely that would count for something?

"Do you mean to tell me that you think Miss Granger is possessed?" Minerva asked him, disbelief clearly in her voice, perhaps thinking something was wrong with him. After all, it wasn't every day that he was concerned for Miss Granger _and_ insisted that Harry Potter be called to her office as well.

"I _know_ she's possessed. And by none other than Lily...Potter." He insisted. Sure, she'd introduced herself as Lily Evans, but he couldn't pretend like she wasn't married to his former enemy, even if she insisted that they have a chance at love. "She knows things that only Lily would know, Minerva."

"I really wish you wouldn't talk about me as if I weren't here." Lily said from her spot on the chair. "It really is me Minerva. Lily Evans."

Minerva narrowed her eyes over the table at the girl. "Alright, then, Miss Evans." The older woman obviously stumbled over her words. "Why did I give remove one hundred and fifty points from Gryffindor house in in your name in your fifth year?"

Lily's cheeks turned bright pink. "Because I'd snuck into the boys' dorms and was attempting to charm all of their undergarments pink." She said quietly, obviously ashamed at a prank gone wrong. Minerva's gasp of surprise suggested it was true. Severus's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline, at hearing what Lily got up to that he didn't even know.

Before they could discuss further, the staircase moved, and Harry Potter stuck his messy head through the door. "Headmistress, you asked to see me?" He said, cautiously, before noticing Hermione sitting in the chair. "Hermione? Is something wrong?" The boy rushed to her side, obviously curious about what was going on.

"Mr. Potter, you might want to sit down. I have some...unusual news for you." Minerva said, calmly, waiting for Potter to take the advice. Hesitantly, he did so. "It appears that Miss Granger has been...possessed, by a spirit. And the spirit is none other than that of...your mother."

"Hello Harry." Lily said from her adjacent chair, looking at Harry with adoring eyes. Severus felt oddly glad to know that even if Lily was wanting a new lover, she hadn't given up the affection she felt for her son.

Severus watched in amusement as all sorts of emotions made their way across Potter's face. Those Gryffindors were always wearing their hearts on their sleeves. "Are you trying to pull one over on me?" He finally asked, causing Severus to snort in derision. Why would he be in cahoots with the other two? It made no sense.

"I am afraid not." Minerva said gravely. "She's answered questions from Severus and myself that only Lily would know the answers to."

At this pronouncement, Potter turned to glare at Severus, perhaps reminded of the connection that he had with Lily. Well, Severus thought to himself, I certainly don't have anything to do with it. Why would I put her in Miss Granger's body of all places?

"Hermione mentioned that she's been having blackouts for periods of time, ever since this autumn." Harry said, knowing his friend would be disappointed that he shared the details of her experiment, but she would also know that it was necessary. "She tried to use the Resurrection Stone to bring back her parents. She told me it didn't work, but maybe my mum latched onto Hermione when she was using it."

Severus kept his face unmoved, but he was surprised to hear about what Miss Granger had done. This was obviously the most likely scenario that had happened, but he was certainly surprised that Potter had deduced it all on his own. They never would have figured it out without telling him.

"Well, we will just have to convince Miss Evans to leave Hermione's body then." Minerva said, keeping her thoughts on Miss Granger using a Deathly Hallow to try and bring back her muggle parents. Severus understood the appeal of a Resurrection Stone. He couldn't say that as a young man he wouldn't have been tempted to use it.

Lily, though, was decidedly not happy to hear Minerva's pronouncement. She huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you can try all you want, but I am not leaving. This is my second chance at life and I am not going to waste it!"


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! Half way through this story now! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter seven and be on the lookout for chapter eight tomorrow!

* * *

Hermione had been more than a little bit surprised to learn that she had been possessed by none other than Lily Potter. She wondered more than once what would have caused the woman to latch onto her, but she supposed she was just a convenient target.

Harry had told her that his mother thought that Hermione's body was her second chance at love. Hermione was intrigued to hear that, because all accounts said that Lily and James Potter were very much in love. Some would even say destined or star-crossed. But perhaps an eternity with your true love wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

It certainly explained her sometimes straightened hair and modifications to her uniform, Hermione thought with a blush.

There had been much discussion about what should be done about this. Obviously, Hermione wanted her body back. Every time Lily took over her body, Hermione was completely unaware of everything she said or did, which had the potential for great embarrassment. Also, Lily saw her body as a second chance, but it was only Hermione's _first_ chance at happiness. She wasn't about to give that up either.

After much discussion, it was decided that Hermione would assist Professor Snape in the library to help look for a exorcism method. This was obviously not a typical demonic possession, Hermione realized, and it was decided that Professor Snape would be the best person to investigate, seeing as Bill Weasley was not much help, dealing more with cursed objects and less with cursed _people_.

She got the impression that Professor Snape was not excited to have a little research assistant in the library. Hermione could understand. She was used to working alone, too. But a part of her was worried that he didn't actually want to have Lily exorcised. Obviously, she had figured out that Lily's current object of affection was Professor Snape.

Having her potions professor explain the way he'd discovered that she'd been possessed was mortifying. She almost couldn't bare to tell Harry, thinking that he would be upset to learn that his mother was clearly _very_ interested in the dungeon bat, as Harry called him.

Still, working in the library with Professor Snape was eye opening. They were actually quite suited, sharing many of the same organizational techniques to help sort through relevant texts and references. He was mostly silent, and never asked her any questions, though Hermione was dying to ask him a multitude of things.

So far, she hadn't worked up the courage to actually do so. Instead, she'd just listen to his barked orders to go get this or that text from whichever shelf, and she'd pop up and do it, even though he never said please or thank you. Hermione was rather invested in getting her body back to herself, though, so she could put up with it.

It had been several weeks now, and they had only just scratched the surface of all the different possible methods. Hermione decided she was willing to try anything, even the one that had a step of immersing yourself in fresh hippogriff livers. That didn't sound particularly appetizing.

There was one thing that had developed over the weeks that she'd been working with Professor Snape, and it was slightly alarming. She wasn't sure if it was just a side effect of having her body shared with Lily, who obviously felt something for Professor Snape. She'd developed a bit of a crush on the man.

Before this, Hermione had always admired Professor Snape, even though she thought him a bit of a cruel brute. No, there was no dying his magical _and_ potions prowess. And even she thought some of his biting insults were a little bit funny - so long as they weren't aimed at her. But then, once she'd learned all that he'd done for the war, she was even more in awe of him. This man had sacrificed so much. She was glad that he was getting a second chance at life.

But now she was noticing things about his anatomy and mannerisms and voice! It was making things a little bit hard to concentrate. She could watch his long fingers turn pages practically all evening, and it had even become distracting during practical demonstrations in her potions lessons. Just last week, she'd been caught daydreaming about what those fingers would feel like tracing down her bare sides to her hips…

His voice was deep and mellifluous, making Hermione long to listen to him lecture for hours. It made the long hours in the library so torturous, knowing that he wasn't likely to say more than a few words to her. She was going to snap one day and ask him some inane question, only to be met with snark. Hermione almost thought it would be worth it.

Previously, she'd always thought his eyes just looked dark, but now she saw how much depth they had. They were actually a deep brown color that had her jealous, thinking of her own muddy brown color.

She wondered, if Lily actually was able to take over her body, if Professor Snape would be able to look past her attributes and find love again with his old friend. Everyone always talked about how pretty Lily was with her long, straight red hair, and green eyes. Really, Lily would have been better off possessing Ginny, as they certainly had more in common in the looks department.

"Miss Granger!" Professor Snape's sudden bark made Hermione jump. Really, all of this day dreaming was getting out of hand. It was only a matter of time before she embarrassed herself in front of the man. "I asked you to go get me Gallen's Treatise on the Soul five minutes ago. Are you going to make yourself useful or are you just going to sit around, staring into space?"

Hermione practically leapt from her spot at the table, embarrassed to be caught fantasizing about the man she was sitting with. As she made her way through the stacks to try and locate the book, she thought that it was perhaps good to get a bit of distance between her and her professor. She just hoped that this level of crush was temporary, and these pesky feelings would leave once Lily did.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like, too!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter eight and be on the lookout for chapter nine tomorrow!

* * *

Lily was upset to learn that everyone was working on removing her from Hermione's body. She could understand if Minerva McGonagall wanted her gone...they'd never been particularly close. But she was mostly hurt that Severus and Harry were actively trying to get rid of her. She didn't understand. Didn't they want to give her a second chance? They'd both gotten theirs.

It was making her a bit bitter. She hadn't been successful in talking to Severus again, except for one brief moment. She was sure if she could just remind him of the life they could have together, the love that could grow between them, she would be able to get him to crumble. Only, Hermione, now that she was aware of what was going on, had been much harder to get control of.

She had spent more time with Harry, and she would have thought he would be overjoyed to spend time with his mother...even if she didn't quite look the part. Hermione and Harry had taken to using a code word to know who was in control of Hermione's body, that Lily still hadn't been able to crack yet.

So when she came to in the Gryffindor common room, sitting with Harry's lap in her head, she was annoyed when his eyes narrowed at her. "Kreacher." He said, simply, waiting for her to respond. Watching her flounder, he sighed, obviously knowing it wasn't Hermione. "Hi Mum." He murmured quietly.

She began to run her fingers through Harry's messy hair and was reminded of a sweeter moment with James, making her heart a bit sentimental. Maybe being in that limbo wasn't the worst thing in the world. But it also gave her pause. Perhaps she had misinterpreted Hermione's relationship with Harry. Was it possible that they were more than friends. "Hello Harry." She responded.

He went back to reading is transfiguration textbook, making Lily feel very put out. He had limited time with her. He should be jumping up and down to ask her questions and pay attention to her. She didn't understand what was so special about Hermione anyway. Lily felt herself becoming very emotional, tears falling down her cheeks.

When she could no longer stand it any more, she finally told Harry what was on her mind. "Don't you love me? Don't you want to spend time with me?" She cried, feeling completely unwanted. James had passed her up for Sirius and Remus. Severus was just being stubborn. Even her own son didn't seem to care for her.

"Hey." Harry said, quietly, before sitting up. "You know that I love you, mum. Dad too. I wish that I had been able to grow up with you both by my side, but I also appreciate the sacrifices you made for me."

Lily perked up to hear that. Surely, this meant that Harry understood why she had to possess Hermione. "So then why are you trying to get rid of me? Don't you want me around? Why don't you want me to have my second chance?" She felt like a child, who was whining when she didn't get her way, but she just couldn't help herself. It wasn't fair.

"Mum, it's not that I want to get rid of you, it's just that...well, I care a lot about Hermione. She is my best friend and if I have to choose between you and her..." Harry let the rest of the sentence hang in the air.

Lily immediately felt her eyes fill were tears, and she tried desperately to blink them away. Had she horribly miscalculated the relationship between her son and Hermione? She'd thought they were just friends. "Do you love her?" She asked, nearly hyperventilating between tiny sobs.

Harry gave her a sad smile, before rubbing her back. "I _do_ love Hermione." Harry revealed. "But I am not _in love_ with Hermione. But, she is family to me now. We've been through so much together." Harry needed his mother to understand that it wasn't that he didn't want her around, it was just that he needed Hermione in his life. "If I could give you a second chance, mum, I would. But we need to let Hermione have her _first_ chance."

"I sacrificed so much." Lily said quietly. "Since I was fifteen, I knew things were going to be bad. I just wanted to be happy."

Her son gave her a wry smile, and suddenly, she felt rather silly to be complaining to him. "I know how you feel." He admitted, having been fighting off Voldemort since he was eleven years old. He knew a lot about self-sacrifice. He'd even tried to martyr himself to save the rest of the wizarding world from Lord Voldemort. "Mum, there is one thing I don't understand. Why do you need a second chance at love? Do you not love...dad anymore?"

"Oh Harry." Lily said, in such a Hermione like way, it actually surprised Harry. "I do love your father, I am just not... _in love_ with him anymore. We were both alone in the afterworld for so long together, just the two of us, unable to separate and it just drove me a little bit mental. Then Sirius showed up, and it was as if I were...forgotten."

Lily watched as though a light switch was turned on in Harry's mind. "Yeah...Sirius can be like that. He was the best godfather I could have had, but he can definitely take up everyone's time. Even I neglected Hermione and Ron when he was around." Harry looked down in his lap for a moment, before looking up at her with a confused look on his face. "Why Professor Snape though?"

"Oh Harry, we used to be the best of friends. Maybe like your Hermione, but there were always underlying feelings too." Lily said, her mind drifting back to when she and Sev were just teenagers. She sighed, scrunching her nose. "And, he's gotten rather handsome, in a stately way, hasn't he?"

Harry shoved her in the arm. "Mum!" Hearing that his mother found his potions master fit was not how he wanted to spend the afternoon.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like, too!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter nine and be on the lookout for chapter ten tomorrow!

* * *

Severus had been surprised to learn that Hermione Granger wasn't all he imagined her to be. He'd only ever experienced her being an annoying know-it-all in the potions classroom, who was disgustingly perfect in nearly everything she did. She had a disgusting need to follow to rules or instructions down to the letter, but had no qualms about bending them when Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were involved.

He'd been curious to see how she would fare without her two dumb sidekicks at her side, but then, he supposed she wouldn't be Hermione Granger if she hadn't convinced them to come back for their eighth year as well.

When he first found out that it was Granger who was possessed by Lily and that he was instructed to work for her, he was prepared for incessant questions and all the annoying habits she had in full display in class, but to his surprise, she'd been anything but.

They had many more similarities than he thought, and it seemed her need to follow the rules was limited to the classroom. It didn't take long for him to realize that it stemmed from an overwhelming fear of failure, possibly due to her muggleborn status. She had to work that much harder to prove that she fit into this culture she'd been thrust into, and it seemed Granger was determined to do it by being the best.

He was intrigued that she was willing to explore and push the boundaries of academic thought when there was no _right_ answer, and they were just trying to figure out something that would work. It would serve her well in whatever discipline she followed on, but Severus found himself hoping that it would skew academic. He would never tell her to her face, but he was sure that whatever contributions she made to the academic world would be refreshingly interesting.

There had been more than one occasion where their reading had divulged into discussion of potions, and he found that he rather enjoyed her insight, and had even written down a few of her observations when he made it back to his quarters.

He had noticed that her cheeks would sometimes turn a bit pink if he caught her staring, but he was certain that she was just horrified of the way she behaved when possessed by Lily's spirit. Darkly, Severus was certain that a nubile, smart, and really quite pretty girl like Hermione would be disgusted at the thought of being intimate in any capacity with someone like him.

For his part, he hadn't been able to forget the way her coy looks had transformed her face into something beautiful. The glimpses of her body had haunted his memories, and as much as he wanted to shove them from his mind they had persisted. He wasn't going to act on anything romantic with a _student_ , even if she was of age.

That's why he had to come clean to her about finding a ceremony to remove Lily from her body. He'd found it a week ago, but had been dragging his feet on letting her know, because he was going to miss their private time together in the library. At least, the ritual would have to be performed during the new moon, so they still had a few weeks together. Plus, there were many things that would need to be prepared, including a massive quantity of a precipitate of a potion to sprinkle into a ritual pattern to protect her body from Lily.

Severus looked across the cramped table at the girl in question, watching her nibble her lower lip in concentration and scribble out notes on her parchment. She was undeniably sweet looking in that moment and he was loath to break her concentration, but he knew it was necessary. This couldn't go on any longer...he didn't want to end up attached.

Clearing his throat, he pushed the huge tome across the table. Hermione looked up at him hopefully, before pulling the book towards her, her fingers running back and forth across the page, reading each line. Her face was a wonder to watch while she was reading, and Severus thought he could detect each minute expression that she had.

A gasp broke his concentration, when she was finished reading. "Do you really think this will work?" She asked. The ceremony was from a druidic tradition of magic, not one that was taught at Hogwarts, and it definitely skewed towards dark magic, rather than light magic.

"Yes, enough that it warrants a try." Severus said, before realizing he'd been too gentle on the girl. He had a reputation to uphold after all. "Why else would I share it with you?" He snarked, watching her turn bright pink at the admonishment.

Shaking her head slightly, Hermione ran some sums in her head. "We are going to need a massive amount of this potion. I'll say...we might be brewin all month!"

Impressed with her focus, Severus made a small noise of agreement. "Yes, which is why you will accompany me to my stores immediately. We will need to make an order for some of these ingredients and the sooner the better." Pulling the book back, Severus marked the page before closing it. A simple wave of his wand had the unneeded books floating back to their respective shelves.

Hermione stood from the table as well, and was staring at him with the oddest look on her face. Before he knew what was happening, the small woman was stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his waist, pinning his arms at his side. "Thank you so much for all your help, Professor Snape." She whispered.

It was his turn to blush, an odd feeling rushing through his body. It was different to be thanked, her sincerity plain as day. "You're welcome, Miss Granger." He said, wanting the contact to end as quickly as possible. It was one thing that he had caught glimpses of her more feminine attributes...he didn't need the memory of how they felt pressed intimately against his body to add fire to the flames.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like, too!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter ten and be on the lookout for chapter eleven tomorrow!

* * *

Hermione was disappointed that her time with Professor Snape was coming to an end. At first, she'd been mortified to work with him when she'd practically thrown herself at him while she was possessed. She didn't think that it was going to go well, but they'd gotten along much better than she thought.

She'd tried explaining it to both Ron and Harry, but her two friends thought she was going bonkers. "Are you sure you haven't hit your head again?" Ron asked once, over breakfast. "You just said you were looking forward to working with Snape again. Remember, the one who calls you an insufferable know-it-all."

Really, she should have known it would be impossible for them to understand.

If she thought that working with him in the library had been lovely, working in his lab was even better. She'd never seen him seem so relaxed as when he was preparing ingredients. He was even surprisingly patient with her, giving her tips and tricks to how to better chop of handle potions ingredients. His silky voice would quietly correct the way that she held a knife, nothing at all like loud assessments in class, which Hermione now understood was meant to inspire public humiliation.

It had driven her teeny tiny crush on him to the next level. They were working in such close quarters together, and she couldn't help but catalog his ever movement, sound and the dreamy scent that was purely him - new leather, peppermint and, if she wasn't mistaken, vanilla. She never wanted their private time in the potions lab to end! It was enough that she was considering sabotaging their last batch of potion, so that they would have to wait a whole other month to complete the ritual. Only, she didn't think she could stand to be berated by him for making a silly mistake.

Even worse, she didn't want Lily inside of her for any longer than she already had been. Each day, she could feel the other soul inhabiting her body growing stronger and stronger. Every time that Hermione had another one of her blackouts she was a little worried that it would be the last one. That she wouldn't be able to regain control again.

It was nice to know she had so many people on her side, willing to make sure that it didn't happen, most of all Professor Snape. Hermione knew that Lily wanted a second chance with _him_ , and she knew Professor Snape obviously still cared deeply about her.

But at the same time, she knew he wasn't willing to be with her this way. At least a part of her hoped that it meant that felt _something_ for her, Hermione, enough that he was willing to give her her life back.

Knowing that he was making this kind of sacrifice for her just made Hermione's heartbeat that much faster. Her crush was getting out of control and just...it was making her want to do crazy things. She had to see if there was some small part of Professor Snape felt the same about her as she did about him. After all, she could tell how much different he acted with her now.

Staring at him while he worked, Hermione had a crazy thought run through her mind. There was a simple way to see if he liked her in any way. And she was _just_ Gryffindor brave enough to do it. Tapping on his shoulder, she waited for him to give her his full attention.

The searching look in his dark eyes had Hermione wondering if he could hear just how fast her heart was beating beneath her school blouse. Letting her eyes drift closed, Hermione stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his, thanking Godric that she hadn't missed. His lips were even softer than she imagined - nothing like her own, chapped and bitten - and they seemed to fit together. _Perfectly_.

Hermione sighed, melting against his body, heat shooting through her veins, knowing that this was so wrong. He was her teacher, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. For one brilliant moment, he moved back against her, his lips moving against hers in a gentle caress. As soon as she tried to open her starving lips, though, he stiffened.

Grabbing her by her shoulders, Professor Snape pushed her back, shrewdly looking into her eyes. "Lily?" He asked tentatively.

She didn't think that she could possibly be more mortified. The kiss had been brilliant, but only for a few moments, before it passed, and she could sense that Professor Snape was on the edge of furious. Hermione felt tears form in her eyes, but she was grateful to Lily, for once, as it seemed the dead woman gave her an out.

"Sev?" Hermione responded, feeling a bit terrible that she was resorting to acting like her best friend's mum in order to cover up her wrong doing, but she couldn't face Professor Snape if he didn't feel the same way about her as she did about him. It would be beyond embarrassing and Hermione didn't think that her heart could handle the rejection.

"I've told you Lily, you can't kiss me. It isn't fair to Miss Granger." Severus said sternly. "Don't you think she would be embarrassed to be kissing her teacher?" He prodded and Hermione got the sense that he talked to Lily like one talked to a misbehaving puppy. She couldn't understand why Lily would tolerate it.

Unsure of how Lily would respond in that situation, Hermione settled for nodding her head, and looking down at her feet in shame. She wished that the world would just swallow her up and spare her of whatever these feelings were.

Pacified, Professor Snape smiled at her, transforming his face into something wholly handsome to Hermione. "Well, why don't you run along to Gryffindor, then, Lily. I am sure Potter would like to speak with you. And I can finish up the potion on my own."

Hermione was glad that she had an out, knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep up the charade with Professor Snape. At the same time, she felt her heart squeeze, seeing how much more open and talkative he was with Lily.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like, too!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter eleven and be on the lookout for chapter twelve tomorrow!

* * *

Lily was beginning to worry that her plan to get her second chance with Severus was beginning to go a bit off the rails. Maybe she had underestimated Hermione Granger. The girl was certainly determined to get rid of her, but maybe she'd underestimated how Severus felt about her as well.

During the many weeks she'd been biding her time in Hermione's body, before she made her presence known to Severus, she hadn't thought that Severus was particularly attached to the girl. If anything, it seemed like she annoyed her former friend with her incessant questions in class, and need to always give the answer. Lily always knew that Sev hated when people showed off their talents. Or at least, that's what he called it.

But, as the weeks had gone on and on in the library, Hermione and Severus working together in such close quarters...Lily had sensed a shift in the relationship between the two of them. She knew that Hermione had a new appreciation of Severus's physical characteristics, but she wasn't sure if that was just her own thoughts bleeding into the younger girl's psyche.

Really, Lily thought that the younger girl was a bit clueless about just what she was feeling for her Potions Professor, wanting to push all these new emotions.

It was even worse when Lily began to notice the longing looks that Severus was sending her way. Well, not _her_ way, but Hermione's way. Was it possible that Severus would be more interested in Hermione Granger than her? Sure, she had imagined that he would need to get used to her new body, but it was an entirely different issue if he was more interested in Hermione's mind than Lily's.

This was the man who'd apparently loved her for years, looking after Harry because of her, despite how much it hurt knowing that he was James's son. How was it possible that he would move on to someone who didn't understand anything that Severus had been through. Lily knew was growing up had been like for Severus. She understood the loneliness he'd experienced at Hogwarts - how he'd been nearly completely alone without her.

She was not willing to let this go. The last thing she wanted was for Severus and Hermione to somehow develop feelings for one another! Then he would really have no reason to stop these silly plans to exorcise her back to the limbo that she came from.

Knowing that she needed to take drastic measures, Lily took control of Hermione's body. She took extra care in straightening Hermione's long hair. Feeling a bit nostalgic, she transfigured Hermione's jeans into hip hugging bell bottoms and a fitted blouse. She wondered if Severus would be taken back a bit to how they were when they were teenagers.

Skipping her way all the way down to the dungeons where Severus spent the majority of his time - really, Lily thought, she would have to make him get out more once they were finally able to be together - she didn't bother knocking before entering his office.

Her old friend was sitting at his huge desk, grading essays, a red pen running back and forth across the page. He looked up and instantly she could tell that it was her. "Hello Lily." He said, and Lily couldn't help but detect the flat affect in his voice. She could tell that he wasn't particularly enthused to see her, and it hurt.

She sank down in the chair across the desk from him. "Sev, I have been meaning to talk to you about something. And I am afraid it's a little bit serious."

He set the quill down next to his papers, before leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head. He was trying to seem nonchalant, but she could see all the tension in his body. "Go on then." He intoned.

Lily looked down in her lap. "Do you remember that day at the lake?" She started, looking up at him from beneath her lashes. Hermione _did_ have lovely eyelashes. "We never really got a chance to talk about that, and I know that...it's because I didn't give us a chance to talk about it now."

Severus made a bit of a choked noise, and Lily knew immediately that he'd been holding onto all sorts of emotions from that day for years. "I would rather leave that in the past, Lily." He said, sternly, in that teacher voice of his, making her reel back in surprise.

"I can't leave it in the past...I need you to know that, I made a mistake, and I'm sorry." Lily said urgently. "I know you never would have called me that word if you hadn't been so upset. And then I was horribly cruel by not giving you a chance to apologize."

"I did want to apologize. It was a horrible thing to call a friend who was just trying to help." He said, staring down at the desk in front of him.

"And I want to apologize for being such a bitch about it." Lily told him earnestly. "I was so rude to you, to let you sleep outside of the common room. I shouldn't have done that Sev, not to someone who'd been such a good friend to me for so many years."

Severus's face transformed into something she couldn't recognize. "It wasn't just that incident that ended our friendship, Lily. You were moving onto Potter, and I was turning to the dark arts. You never approved, and it was only a matter of time before we went our separate ways. That was just the last straw."

He'd clearly had a lot of time to think about this, Lily realized. Maybe his years alone being so empty had been a good chance at self-reflection for him. Suddenly, the conversation seemed so very hollow to her.

Maybe her chance with Severus had already slipped away.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like, too!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter twelve and be on the lookout for chapter thirteen tomorrow!

* * *

Before he knew it, the night of the New Moon had arrived. Severus had been on edge, ever since his last conversation with Lily, where she apologized to him for not being a better friend. The discussion had given him a lot to consider. He hadn't realized just how much that had been weighing him down, the stain that it had left on their friendship. It almost made him wistful for a future with Lily.

Almost.

At his core, he had to keep reminding himself that she was just a desperate shade, unwilling to give up the human body she'd forced herself into. That was better than anything else to help him make up his mind. He knew that his Lily never would have been so uncaring about innocent Hermione Granger's life.

Well, it was finally time for them to get her life back, even if it meant an end to the pleasant working relationship he'd forged with the girl.

Once the sun had set, he had lead Miss Granger out into the Forbidden Forest, Harry Potter and Minerva McGonagall in tow. Miss Granger almost hadn't wanted Potter there either, and had barely dissuaded Weasley from coming with, seeing as the ritual required that she remain naked for the duration. Severus had gently coaxed the girl into allowing her friend to come with - after all, this was probably his last chance to say goodbye to his mother. Granger had looked up at him with such sickeningly adoring eyes, he felt his heart melt a little.

Once they found the spot that the Resurrection Stone had been left in, Severus began preparing the ritual circle. Using the hefty portion of potion precipitate they had created, he began to form a circle that would be closed once Miss Granger entered it. He was just glad that there wasn't any snow on the ground, as he wasn't sure he would be able to see the circle against the pure white flakes. Instead, it stuck out in sharp contrast from the brown, dead leaves.

Turning, he saw that Miss Granger was locked into a tight embrace with Potter. It was normal for her to feel worried, he supposed. If anything went wrong, she might not be around any longer. Her body would remain, but there was no promise that her _soul_ would be. Looking up at the sky, he could barely see the outline of where the moon was. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford to wait any longer.

Clearing his throat, he loathed to break the two friends apart. "Miss Granger, we must begin." He said sternly. "Your clothes." He reminded her, before choosing to look away while her shaking fingers opened the clasp on her cloak. It fell to the forest floor in a heavy sounding heap. Before he knew it, he could hear tentative barefoot footsteps crunching through the leaves to enter the circle.

Looking at her face, unwilling to let his eyes trace down her bare form - though he _wanted_ to, his mind thought traitorously - he stood at the open edge of the circle. "Do you have the stone?" He asked, softly.

Hermione nodded, holding out her arm and opening her palm, exposing a smooth, geometric black stone. Her hand was shaking, but if it was from nerves or from the cold. Nodding in return, he completed his task, closing the ritual circle. He began to chant, the Celtic feeling unwieldy on his tongue.

Severus wasn't sure that anything had happened, until Hermione's eyes snapped open, and instead of their usual brown, they were instead a bright green. "Severus, why are you doing this?" She said, her voice just as sweet as he once remembered.

"You need to let Hermione go, Lily. You are dead, and it's time to move on." He said sternly.

The girl made a whining noise, eyes shut tightly to hold back tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "Don't you love me anymore, Sev?" Lily was practically begging now, perhaps knowing that it was useless.

Severus gave her a sad smile. "No, Lily, I will always have a special spot in my heart for you, but I am not in love with you anymore."

Hermione's eyes shut again, and a huge shuddering sigh passed through her whole body, her shoulders drooping. It took only a few moments, but before his very eyes, he watched as the shade of Lily, the beautiful young girl he remembered, stepped out of Miss Granger's body.

"Lily! Where have you been? We were so worried about you!" A familiar voice called from behind Severus's shoulder. He saw James Potter waiting there, with Lupin and Black and even Tonks. Potter looked very concerned for the love of his life.

Lily hesitated only for a second. The others obviously didn't know what she had done. "I'm sorry, I left James, but I was just so unhappy. I wanted a second chance at life." She said, not daring to meet his eyes.

Potter cleared his throat. "It's alright Lils, I know that I haven't been...well, I hadn't been paying very much attention to you lately. It can't have been easy to have all of my friends around, but no one for you to spend time with." He ran a hand through perpetually messy - even in the afterlife! - hair. "Will you come back and we can give it another try?"

Her head snapped up at his question, perhaps surprised that he still wanted her. A smile transformed her face, before she nodded slowly, stepping out of the ritual circle. As soon as that happened, Hermione let an unconscious breath she didn't know she was holding go.

Dropping the Resurrection Stone, Hermione let out a whoop of joy as the shades disappeared, finally free to be herself. She smiled at Severus, more grateful than she could ever describe. "Thank you so much, Professor. I know that this couldn't have been easy for you."

Unable to put into words everything that he was feeling, Severus simply nodded, before returning his gaze to the ground. She was after all, still very naked and very beautiful and he didn't want to do anything untoward, especially not in front of Minerva and Potter. "The ritual is open. You can leave the circle, Miss Granger." He said perfunctorily.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) if you'd like, too!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter thirteen and be on the lookout for chapter fourteen tomorrow!

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Hermione had been free of Lily's presence for over three weeks now. She hadn't had a single black out since they completed the ritual in the Forbidden Forest with Professor Snape's guidance. Harry had thrown her an absolutely wonderful party in Hogsmeade Village the Friday after the ritual, bringing most of their friends, and getting her a little bit drunk on firewhiskey. Harry loved his mum, but he was really glad to have his best friend back for good.

The only problem was that...her feelings for Professor Snape had stayed right where they were. Hermione had expected them to fade once Lily's feelings and emotions had left her body. But, Hermione couldn't help but notice the way Professor Snape's hand curled around his wand when he sent instructions to the board, or all the different emotions he wore on his face that she never noticed before their time together.

But, the feelings hadn't gone away, which left only one logical conclusion. She'd had a crush on Professor Snape all along.

Part of her wanted to just forget it, and bury her feelings deep inside of her until they disappeared forever. Still, there was a larger, more insistent and pushy (perhaps Gryffindor) part of her that wanted to do something about it. Professor Snape _had_ acted differently around her while they had been working together. He had obviously grown to like her...much more than just tolerating her, as he had the first week they were together.

Their conversations had frequently strayed from the task at hand, and although they mainly kept it to academic topics, she couldn't deny that it was _much_ more than just a student-teacher relationship.

That Gryffindor part of her brain insisted she do something about it, and she'd spent two weeks of her three week Lily freedom on the edge of blurting out that she liked him whenever she saw him. Finally, being Hermione, she decided that she needed to sit down and plan something out so that she didn't make a fool of herself in front of Professor Snape and her classmates.

Luckily, Valentine's day was coming up, so Hermione had decided that the best way she'd be able to get all of her feelings out was to send him a heartfelt valentine. She'd transfigured some red paper and cut it into a heart, before pouring out her heart on one side of the valentine. She'd written about how much she'd admired him, and how she'd grown to care for him in the past weeks. She wrote that she hoped they could be more than just colleagues.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she'd given the valentine to an owl, and watched it fly away into the night.

* * *

When it was time for breakfast on Valentine's Day, Hermione was so sick to her stomach with nerves, she almost didn't come down to the Great Hall. She knew that in just a few short minutes, her valentine would be falling into the lap of Severus Snape, and then he would know _exactly_ how she felt about him.

But, Harry had dragged her down to the Gryffindor table, and Hermione spent the whole time staring at the empty plate in front of her, until the owls came swooping in. Harry received a mountain of gifts, as usual, and Ron received his share as well. If she received any, she didn't know, because she was so focused, watching an ordinary barn owl drop her heart on Professor Snape's plate.

He looked confused, suspicious even, before reading the note, his eyebrows raising in a visible cue of how shocked he was. When he got to the end of it, his dark eyes snapped to her form, and Hermione felt her cheeks turn bright red. She looked back at her plate, hoping he wouldn't do anything drastic, like try to get her expelled. Oh, that had been a terrible, terrible idea. She should have tried to bury the feelings, she knew it!

It did little for her nerves that Professor Snape did not try to speak with her until her double potions class two days later. He quietly asked that she remain after class. Once all the other students were gone, he opened the door to his office, leading the way to a room that Hermione had many fond memories of.

On his desk lay the Valentine and Hermione felt her heartbeat quicken. She couldn't believe that they were actually going to have this conversation. Snape held up the paper heart, his eyes not leaving her face. "What is this, Miss Granger?"

"A Valentine, sir." Hermione said, praying that her voice wouldn't waiver.

"And is this really how you feel?" He asked, giving her a tiny glimmer of hope. She nodded, suddenly unable to maintain eye contact. He sighed heavily. "This is not appropriate, Miss Granger. I am your Professor and you are my student. I advise you to remove any silly fantasies you might have about my person." His tone was monotone, and while he didn't mock her, he wasn't exactly gentle with her either.

Surprisingly, his rejection hurt more than she thought it would. Her eyes began to water when she realized that perhaps she had been barking up the wrong tree. She nodded, unable to look at him, hating that she might find pity or disgust reflected in his dark eyes. "I understand, sir." Hermione said, her breath catching a sob on the last word.

She stood quickly, unwilling to wait any longer, to have any further discussion. Hermione knew that she needed to put as much distance between her and Severus Snape as possible, and her bedroom in Gryffindor tower was just about as far as it got.

Once she was alone, she shoved her face into her pillows and let herself cry, grateful that her roommates were not here to witness her pitiful display, all the while wondering how she was going to get through the next few months knowing that Professor Snape wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour). So - we have come to the end of this fun little story. I hope you enjoyed this sweet Valentine's treat! If you enjoyed my writing, please check out some of my other work. I have two works in progress right now. One is a silly/fun wolfmate story with Fenrir and Hermione. The other is a time travel AU where Hermione goes back in time to adopt Tom Riddle.

Please let me know what you thought of the story! Thanks for reading!

* * *

Severus Snape had been taken aback when he'd gotten the note from Miss Hermione Granger, revealing all of her deeper feelings for him, and her desires for some kind of a relationship to exist between them. At first, he thought it might be some cruel trick on her part, before all of the pieces finally clicked into place.

She hadn't been blushing because she was embarrassed by Lily's actions with her body, rather it would appear that Miss Granger also had a little crush on him. Part of his heart soared with the possibility of a beautiful young woman like Hermione wanting him, just as much as he'd come to want her. It had taken a long time for him to admit that to himself, but he finally had.

But, the other, larger, more rational side of him knew that he couldn't encourage this kind of a romantic relationship between him and a student, even if she was an "eighth year" and had been of age for two years. He'd tried to let her down easily, holding back every ounce of snark that he had in his body, trying not to hurt the poor girl's feelings.

Then he prayed every day that she would move on with someone her own age. The only thing worse that the possibility that she might be playing a trick on him, was that they might actually get along well enough that he was destroyed when he inevitably fucked it up. He wasn't sure that he could open himself like that to all the pain and hurt again.

As the months went by, though, it was very clear that Miss Granger's feelings hadn't changed, if any of the blushes and lingering gazes during class were any indication. She never went on dates to Hogsmeade with any other of the boys' in her year, though not through lack of other male attention.

And, as the days ticked nearer to graduation day, Severus began to confront his own feelings and insecurities. His own desires for the girl - young woman - hadn't cooled at all, despite added distance between the two of them. He thought a lot about Lily's desire to have a second chance at love. It was then that he realized Hermione could be _his_ second chance at love. Of course, Lily had scored his affections, but he had no reason to believe that Hermione would act in a similar way.

He'd waited until graduation was over and Hermione was no longer a student to approach her. She was standing with Potter and the entire brood of Weasleys, laughing along with them, and making plans to visit the Burrow later that week. The scene was nearly enough for him to turn tail and hide, and forget any second chances.

Taking a deep breath, though, he persisted, walking straight up to her. "If I may intrude, I was wondering if I might speak to Miss Granger, alone for a moment." He said, knowing that his voice had made Hermione stop laughing and tense up in nervousness.

He walked them away from the crowd, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of an audience if he could help it. The only problem was that he didn't know where to start.

"You wanted to speak with my Professor Snape?" Her shaking voice brough him out of his thoughts.

"Severus." He said, quietly. "I am no longer your Professor, Miss Granger. You may call me Severus."

"Hermione." She said brightly, a slow smile transforming her face.

"That's actually the reason I wished to speak with you, as well, Hermione." He started cautiously. "As you know, earlier this year, I told you any kind of relationship between the two of us would be considered improper, seeing as I was your Professor. However, now that you have graduated, I was wondering...well, if your offer still stands?"

Her laughter made his dark eyes snap up, when for a millisecond, he worried that she might be laughing _at_ him. He worried that the embarrassment he'd faced with Lily was about to repeat itself. But then he saw that she was _so happy_. Biting her lower lip, she regarded him cautiously. "You want to be in a relationship, with me?" She asked, hopeful.

"Well, I was thinking we could start with a date, and see how it goes from there." He told her, cheeks turning a bright pink at the suggestion that he, dour Professor Severus Snape, was intending on taking _anyone_ on a date.

"I'd love that." Hermione said, now smiling enthusiastically. Before he was able to prepare himself, she was launching herself into his arms, wrapping her hands around his neck, and pressing her lips against his in perfect kiss. Severus wrapped his arms around her just as tight, for once not letting himself care that he was kissing her in front of an audience that consisted of the entirety of Hogwarts' staff, graduating class, and their parents. She didn't seem to mind, so he wouldn't either.

A voice broke them from their stolen moment, making Severus more than a little annoyed. He'd finally gotten the witch! And some pigheaded Weasley was going to ruin the perfect moment? The most perfect first kiss he'd ever had.

"Oi, Hermione? What are you doing kissing the greasy dungeon bat like that?" Ron Weasley shouted their way. Oh, if there was _ever_ a time that Severus had wanted to give that little swine a detention it was right now.

Hermione turned to look at her friend, scowl clearly written on her face. "Don't you talk about my boyfriend like that Ronald Weasley! I never say anything when you let Lavender do her best octopus impression on _your_ face." She hurled back on him.

He wasn't sure if Weasley was dumbfounded by the way she'd told him off, or the way she likened Brown to an octopus, or the way she'd just called him her boyfriend. In the end he decided he didn't care, because Hermione Granger had just announced to everyone that she wanted to date him. He didn't think he'd ever been more proud.

"Boyfriend?" Severus teased, whispering in her ear, pleased to see a shiver run up her spine. "I thought we agreed to take it slow, witch."


End file.
